According to the New York Post, the first reference to the Classic Leather Tabi Décortiqué Low's supposed resemblance to the cloven-hooves of Baphomet turned up on Facebook. As Britannica notes, Baphomet is a pagan deity with Satanic connotations dating to at least the 11th century. The creature is a winged human figure with the body and feet of a goat. In 2015, the Satanic Temple  commissioned a statue of Baphomet which it placed in various locations as a form of protest against public displays of the Ten Commandments (via NPR).

The Reebok shoe controversy is just the latest example of how unfounded fears of Satan-worship have gripped the American public, as NPR reported. Another instance of Satanist panic showed up in the 1980s as the classic role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons became popular (per BBC). The Reebok-based Satanist furor soon spread to platforms like Instagram, where comments consisting only of the word "Satanic," as well as "Satanic no way will i [sic] ever wear those," showed up in response to Reebok's post.

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